I expect my media to be insightful, topical, and basically ahead of the wave – to tell me something I don’t already know. So, it was with dismay that I read the first two paragraphs of Margret Wente’s Comment column this past Saturday ( “How I became a Costco Junkie” Feb. 9, 2008).
My immediate thought on reading line 1 para 2 (“If you haven’t shopped at Costco...”), was to poll my circle of friends and acquaintances to see if any of them had NOT shopped at Costco. Or at least didn’t know well enough what the Costco experience was that they would be interested in reading about it in a national newspaper. But I couldn’t think of anyone who would not find that question ridiculous.
My second reaction, upon venturing a few more inches down the page, was a mix of disgust and despair at the seemingly complete detachment of the Globe and Mail from the lives of anything but the Forest Hill and Rosedale elite. Maui? Pusateris? Holt Renfrew? Any journalist for whom these are routine reference points for should be writing for Vanity Fair or The Hamptons Monthly, not a newspaper that purports to speak to typical Canadians.
The last straw was Wente’s apparent glee at being able to buy more cheap imported “stuff”. Ipods, flat-screen TVs, $800 espresso makers, 4-handset cordless phone sets (that will certainly wind up in landfill in a year when their batteries die) -- in this age of shopaholism, I don’t think we really need any more encouragement to conspicuously and greedily consume frivolous disposables.
What can we expect next week from your columnists? A scoop on a fabulous new technology called the Internet? Or maybe how Al Gore discovered a looming threat called Global Warming?
Your writers really should get out more often.
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I warned Rachel (the trip organizer) that I spoke no Czech and had never even visited Ireland, but she took me on anyway. I had guided bike trips for a Toronto company, Butterfield and Robinson, albeit 17 years ago. ¶ 5:50 AM 0 Comments
